E3 Impressions: WarioWare Smooth Moves

Hands-on impressions of Wario's latest slice of insanity
Written by Nik

WarioWare seems like the new perfect title to launch your new system with. On the DS Warioware: Touched perfectly showed the possibilities of the new handheld. Now the Wii is getting its own version of this minigame spectacle. However, this edition looks like to become the most embarrassing one so far...

The hoop mini-game, for example, was the one in the demo you just don't want to play. To complete this one you have to imitate the movement to keep a hoop around your body. Imagine big boned game journalists suddenly moving their body like their lives depend on it, just to complete a WarioWare mini-game. It was not a pretty sight.

WarioWare tells the player what kind of mini-game they can expect next, so that the can hold the controller in the right way in advance. There's the steering variant, where you hold the controller horizontal with both hands. One game wants players to keep a car on track, another one lets you push over a person in this stance.

Another way to hold the controller is sideways, with the buttons up. This position is used for tilting games. There's one where you've to slide an orb in the hole in a platform by moving the platform itself. Another game requires gamers to balance a girl standing on a moving ball. Move the remote left or right down to move the girl in that position - just don't let her fall down.

There are a lot of different game types. In one players have to draw a certain figure on screen, another one went 'Red Steel' style where you had to slide an object with a sword. All these different types of movement are accurate; every movement you make corresponds on the screen. This game looks perfect to demonstrate the abilities of the Wii system at launch.

Although the form to play games has obviously changed in WarioWare: Smooth Moves, all the other things really are quite the same. The game still breathes the odd Japanese look, with strange imagery popping up � a groaning goat for instance - when you successfully completed a game. Graphics are still very basic, but that's the look that suits this series best. This isn't a bad thing; everyone knows just what to expect from a WarioWare title. Strange sounds, crazy mini-games and a farting Wario. With the endless new possibilities for mini-games, the release of a WarioWare Wii game is justified already.

Nik Wouters
[email protected]


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